Franco's long shadow in Andalucia

In Spain's recent mayoral elections, a tiny village hidden in the Andalucian mountains found the courage to exercise its democratic vote, eject the incumbent, and elect a new town council. For the past 24 years, the mostly illiterate and elderly population has been in thrall to a Francoist mayor who took advantage of their simplicity and ignorance to intimidate them into voting for him time after time.

His stranglehold on this remote community has been challenged before. Four years ago the opposition narrowly lost. It was a Bush/Gore hanging chad sort of affair with two recounts and several crucial votes thrown out. The family and friends of the winner, all of whom live elsewhere but who consider this quaint little town their personal playground, screamed through the narrow streets in fast cars blaring horns to announce their continued dominance.

This year the population gathered anxiously for the counting of the votes. When the outcome became certain, the village was in shock: silenced by their own bravery. There was no applause, no cheering. Like newly released prisoners, the villagers were still frightened.

The mayor, who has seldom been seen in the village during this last term, was quick to seek revenge. He visited families who have always supported him, raging impotently: "After all the favours I have done you over the years, how can you do this to me?" He stripped of office all those he suspected of not voting for him, including the man who looks after his garden, whose wife has cancer.

What has been frequently rumoured is made obvious by this raging bull reaction to a democratic vote - the mayor and his friends have been living off this village for the past 24 years, creaming the top off development grants, pocketing graft and extracting favours.

Days after the elections, the village seems louder. People are talking to each other, the whispering behind closed doors has stopped. People have adjusted quickly to the promise of democracy and free speech, which Spain voted for in 1978 and which has finally come to this little community. The incoming mayor has promised that no jobs will be lost and there will be no retributions. Finally a village nestling in chestnut forests in the Andalucian mountains may become the paradise it should always have been.